Travelling in USA

[DonB]

We are going to Western USA including Hawaii in 2012, and are looking at the currency cards in dollars that are on offer. i.e. the one from the CCC. Not having not used these before, does anyone know if there are any hidden charges in getting your money out of an ATM in the USA? Or any other problems with this type of card? Or do we stick with credit cards? Thanks

[ham]

We are currently in Nevada. Our Credit cards have been ok. We have not used Any ATMS.We have found Eating out can be expensive, unless you use the burger bars like Macs or Dennys . Booze is also expensive around 4$ for a glass of beer, If driving Petrol is $3.1 a gallon for cash and using a credit card add upto 50c extra per gallon.We did not find any problem using Cards in Hawia or California. We are getting around $1.57 for the card transaction.

[colin]

We where in South West last year, did our usual, take a few hundred quid in cash and then use where possible credit or debit cards. Dispite telling credit card company we would be using card in US, first time we used it they blocked card, not impressed as this is second time Capital One have done this. Still we used debit cards for rest of holiday. The system in US seems a bit old fashion, but we got by, sometimes if trying to buy fuel with an 'out of state' card you are required to buy fuel before pumping it into tank!

[Homenaway]

Hi,

Last year in California we used our Nationwide debit card in shops usually having to sign a screen rather than using our PIN, and at petrol stations without any problems, but were charged $3 to withdraw $100 from an ATM. Sometimes we had to pay in advance for fuel and our credit card wouldn't work at automatic pumps as you had to enter a zipcode.

Steve

[art338]

We found that in the northern states many eating places and small shops refused cards. they have less of a problem with thieves.

 

art

[sandya]

We use FairFX for cash and a Post Office Credit Card and find charges reasonable

Sandy

[Mike88]

Use a dollar denominated Caxton card here:

 

http://www.caxtonfxcard.com/cards_description.asp?dist=CAXTGENL

 

I must confess to being a bit lazy about checking charges but as far as I can recall the card did not levy any charges at ATMs.

[JeffersonCampervan]

As a Canadian who has traveled extensively in the USA , Mexico & Europe:

 

1) unless your bank has an arrangement with a US bank, there will be a ATM withdrawl charge of $3 - $5 per transaction. To reduce this as a percentage, withdraw the max each time. In Europe I use Scotiabank (CDN) ATM cards - because they have a "no ATM fee" agreement with Barclays,Deutsche Bank & BNP Paribas. Se if there's a similar arrangement with a UK bank for US withdrawals & set up a travel account with that bank. Having a separate card at a different institution than your main bank also insulates the majority of your assets from fraud. We do the same with credit cards.

 

2) you will pay a currency conversion rate - you will want to know how this is handled - usually 2.5% to the bank's advantage over interbank, but sometimes the actual rate-interbank rate spread is greater.

 

3) We get hit with gas station auto-pump zip code requirement as well (we can't enter CDN postal codes into US pumps) - sometimes the cashier can't even override this & you have to try a few stations before you can pump gas (sorry, petrol :-). It seems that the zip code thing has become less prevalent in the last couple of years, though.

 

4) credit cards are very prevalent in the US - you're more likely to find "cash only" in Germany than the USA. Purchasing on credit cards will also give you the least exposure to fees & gouging currency conversion rates.

 

[DonB]

Thanks everybody, much appreciated. Lots of food for thought!